


My True Love Has Dark Hair

by ThatDamnKennedyKid



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Female Tony Stark
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-16
Updated: 2019-05-30
Packaged: 2019-10-21 19:43:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,259
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17648711
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThatDamnKennedyKid/pseuds/ThatDamnKennedyKid
Summary: Bucky's last memories are of Steve shoving him into an escape pod and launching him into the ocean. That makes this dark-haired angel somewhat of a surprise."I'm so glad I went to heaven."





	1. Meet-Cute Stories

Bucky's last memories are of Steve shoving him into an escape pod and launching him into the ocean. That makes this dark-haired angel somewhat of a surprise.

"I'm so glad I went to heaven."

The light she was blocking out was blinding, but her smile and laugh made it worth the strain. "Not quite, flyboy. You're still very much down in the dirt with the rest of us mortals."

"Then how did you get down here?"

"We've got ourselves a charmer. I'll let the terrible angel pickup lines go because you just woke up from an epic power nap, but just this once." She disappeared and the light dimmed. "How are you feeling? Can you sit up?"

He took a breath, then managed to sit up. His left arm felt weird though. He took a moment to blink his eyes to adjustment, then glanced down at it. 

"My arm's metal."

"Uh, yeah." The woman deflated a little. "Hoping it would take you longer to notice was a bit of a lost cause, huh?"

He swallowed, staring down at it as it flexed. 

"So, when we found you, you were really stuck in there good." She sat on the edge of his bed, reaching out to lay her hand on the metal appendage. He was surprised when he felt pressure, even warmth. "This arm, though? Totally mangled. I don't know how you landed on it when you hit the surface and began to sink, but it was . . . not good. We had to amputate when you were still frozen to minimize the blood loss and I made this handy little thing to you don't lose an arm. Be a shitty return to the world huh?"

He was reeling, still trying to wrap his mind around having been frozen. "Can we go over that again, but slower?"

She chuckled lowly, smiling sympathetically. "Of course. I'll get you some clothes and we'll talk upstairs."

* * *

Sitting in her living room, he was just so floored. She handed him his coffee and sat down next to him, glancing out over the view. 

"I think an introduction is in order." She said. "I'm Tony Stark, daughter of Howard Stark. And it's 2001."

Again, a lot of information at once. 

"This coffee's really good."

She laughed, slinging an arm over the back of the most comfortable couch he'd ever been on. "Should be. I don't buy garbage."

"So, one thing at a time. Tony Stark, Howard's kid?"

"Yup." She winked. "He'd dead though."

"How long ago?"

"Ten year anniversary this December."

"And- And Steve?"

"We found you looking for him." She admitted, but didn't lower her gaze. "We're still going."

He nodded solemnly - he couldn't reasonably ask any more of her. "Alright. So. 2001."

"Yup." She gestured around them. "Welcome to the future."

"It's cleaner."

"I'd hope so." She grinned. "Food's better too."

"I know you're never supposed to ask a dame this, but how old are you?"

"Twenty-seven." Her grin got wider. "Don't worry - you're in good hands, Sargent Barnes."

"It's so weird to think I'm part of history." He murmured, sipping the coffee again. "Kids have been taught who I am."

"The lustre will wear off pretty soon." She assured, though he wasn't sure it was something that should. "I would know."

"Howard made it that big, huh?" He really looked her over. 

"So to speak. He made his name in weapons and that was all he needed to get Stark Industries off the ground. The military is an awesome sugar daddy."

He didn't know what that phrase meant, but he got the gist.

"I grew up in that spotlight. I'm not even thirty and the kids at MIT talk about me like some long-lost goddess."

"That's gotta be humbling."

"And more than a little daunting." She smiled weakly. "How about, before I fill you in on the world today, I get you accustomed to the modern home? Granted, I'm no doting housewife, but I can teach you how everything works."

"Howard's daughter? A housewife?" He laughed. "I didn't think you would be."

She winced. "Then you knew a different Howard than I did."

"What do you mean?"

"He changed."

And wasn't that a loaded statement. "Right. Bathroom first? That feels the most necessary."

"Good call." She stood. "This way, good sir."

* * *

Tony was a gracious host and a generally pretty accomodating woman. She was hammered brittle at the edges, but she was still soft on the inside. She, along with her computer butler JARVIS, was more than patient with him as he came to grips with his new world. Getting used to the house having a voice was strange, but comforting. Even when she was gone, he wasn't alone and there was always a helping hand not far. 

He'd graduated rather recently to her workshop. It reminded him of all those science fairs he'd gone to with dates. If her house was futuristic, even for the future, her workshop was where the future's future was forged. It was where his one-of-a-kind prosthetic had been born, crafted out of a matte silverish material she called Vibranium.

"The only place that has it is a small country called Wakanda in Africa." She'd explained. "I don't have a lot of it, not enough for an arm, certainly, so it took a little grease to get it woven well with the titanium."

In short, the arm she'd given him was lightweight, vibration-repellant and really close to indestructible. She'd also made another discovery, one that rocked him a little more than having a different colour limb. 

He had the serum. Those crazy bastards, back in that awful camp, had managed to figure it out before Steve had run them off. It had been what kept him alive when he otherwise would have been a fossil. 

"It kickstarted your heart again when you unfroze." She said, staring down at the results. "I also imagine it's why your metabolism is so high and you've started lurking my gym."

He'd been surprised at the sudden expansion to the exercise equipment, but in retrospect, he shouldn't have been. She was generous like that. After all, her personal assistant had one of her credit cards and given carte blanche to buy whatever she wanted. Pepper's salary paid her bills and her rent, but her entire wardrobe, gas and both of her cars were on Tony's wallet. 

"She puts up with a lot from me." Tony said, as if that wasn't what her multi-million dollar salary was already for. "She doesn't use me, doesn't ever ask for more. She can have whatever she wants from me."

He bulked up considerably - not being run ragged by the army and having a proper daily cycle helped - and it made him a little nervous. Didn't even take him that long. He went up three sizes in shirts just from gaining muscle mass and strained those too, his jeans too tight around his considerable thighs, but his waist still trim. 

He'd been with her four months at the point where his body levelled out. He'd noticed the heat whenever she looked at him, but she kept their interactions decidedly friendly. And while she might not have been trying to seduce him, her jeans and tees made him weak. No though fabric like denim should be able to cling to an ass like that. Nor should a black tank top stick like clingfilm and highlight the flex of her waist. 

Six months on, and Pepper pulled him aside. 

* * *

He put the weights back down, sitting up properly. "What can I do for you?"

Pepper, expertly not staring at his bare chest - whoops, thought he'd be alone today - sat down next to him on the bench. "I want to talk with you about Tony."

"Did she do something?"

"She's not presently doing anything, no. But there's a whole circus around her that she's kept you from since you woke up."

He blinked. "Okay?"

"Tony's a celebrity, and Howard was an asshole." Pepper said baldly. "That meant she did a lot of stupid things that led her to a reputation and an alcohol abuse issue."

"Oh. Wow. Okay."

"If you don't want to stay locked up here in Malibu, then you're going to be made a public spectacle. That, I'm sure you can handle. Being a war hero has its perks."

"Then what did you come to warn me so ominously about?"

She was unamused. "I've seen the way you two look at each other. Even if all this sexual tension doesn't go anywhere, even just being her friend will carry a stigma, an ugly one."

He wrinkled his nose. "You think she's the first dame to have a poor reputation?"

"Put bluntly, Tony's a whore." Pepper levelled him with a look. "A cheap one. Nasty reporters and antagonistic questions will become part of your everyday public life if you stay in contact with her."

He sputtered. "Are you trying to tell me to drop her?"

"No. I learned this from experience." Pepper, zipped up and perfectly placid, was nothing if not serious and professional. But they'd been coworkers and friends now for the better part of six years. "Tony's open bisexuality mean that no one is too outlandish for her to sleep with. And there are always paparazzi with bad intentions waiting for someone to screw up. Before you declare yourself - or start something, for that matter - you have to know this. This will follow her until she dies."

"You're serious."

Pepper's eyes narrowed. "Of course I am. Tony's a huge part of my life and I've watched what happens when people aren't ready to face her reality."

He felt a pang in his chest. "How incredibly lonely."

"It is." 

"I'll keep your advice in the back of my mind going forward."

"Don't commit to publicity, then back out. She doesn't deserve that. Make your choice and stuck to your guns  _before_  the cameras find you."

He swallowed, leaning back from her intensity. "I will."

"Good. If you want the truth about her, don't read the magazines or headlines. Ask me or her. And don't believe what they will publish."

"Is it really that outlandish?"

"The  _Enquirer_ claimed she fucked a stallion when she was sixteen." Pepper scowled. "And claimed she was hysterically telling her inner circle she was pregnant with a colt."

"Oh."

"So, ask one of us." Pepper turned to leave. "If you read anything about Tiberius Stone or Sunset Bain, just ask me. Those were . . . not good times."

"Can do."

As soon as Pepper was gone, he was out of his seat and down to Tony's workshop. 

"Hey, Slush Puppy." She tossed him a smirk over her shoulder. 

"So, I just got accosted by Pepper in the gym."

She laid down her microwrench. "Oh."

"She had some very enlightening things to say."

She turned to face him, solemn. "No need to continue. I've got a place in Brooklyn I've been keeping for you. Modest, one bedroom. I've got it under a psuednym, so you won't be bothered-"

He reached over and took her hand. "Tony, doll, stop."

She abruptly shut her mouth. 

"I don't want to go. I do, however, need a crash course on what Pepper was going on about so I don't flub the test."

She took a shaky breath. "Yeah. Okay. I can do that."

He smiled at her. "Have I told you yet that I really like you?"

"Not yet."

"I've been lackadaisical, then." He grinned, then grew serious. "I don't have anyone else, Tony. You're it. And everything you've done, you've done for a stranger. I'm not going to repay that with cold dismissal."

"You don't owe me anything."

"I don't know about that. I'm sure the army would love to have me back and you could have just foisted me off on them. Maybe made a pretty penny too."

"Gross." She wrinkled her nose. "No one deserves to wake up to old generals wanking off on your legacy."

He closed his eyes with a grimace. "I'm not going to be able to unsee that. My point was that you've done so much for me, including becoming my friend over these last months. I want to stick around, I just don't want Pepper to scare the piss out of me again."

"Yeah, she does that." She took a deep breath. "Well, if you're here to stay, I suppose we should get a rundown started. J, fire up the scandal highlight reel, chronologically if you don't mind."


	2. Chocolate Labradors

When her car rolled to a stop outside of a nursing home, he frowned. 

"What are we doing here?"

"There's someone in there I'd like you to see." She parked and got out, leading the way with a friendly wave to the attendant. 

"We told her you were coming, Miss Stark."

"Good. Sitting room?"

"The atrium, actually. She likes the flowers."

"Thanks, Caroline."

He followed her, even more confused. "Tony, what's going on?"

She led him silently into the atrium, a decent-sized indoor garden of potted plants. A few of the elderly residents were milling about, watering plants or petting the cat, but there was a stern-looking woman sitting on a couch, watching the others move about. 

"Hey, Rebecca."

The withered old woman looked up, superficially grumpy. "Hey, kid."

"Remember how I told you I'd bring you a special visitor?"

"What about it, Stark?"

Tony gestured for him to round the chair, and his heart immediately started to hurt. 

"Becca." He whimpered, dropping to his knees, taking her frail old hands. She seemed equally shocked. 

"Bucky." Her eyes began to water and she leaned forward, stroking his face and running her fingers through his hair. "You're bigger than I remember."

He chuckled wetly. "Yeah, Becca, I am."

"How could you let me think you were dead for so long?!"

"I didn't know anyone was alive!" He argued. 

"To be fair, he's only been out of the ice for eight months, and most of that has been spent in rehab." Tony broke in. "Also, living with me."

"Then get over here so I can smack you."

"He was in the ice, frozen." Tony continued on, apparently having spent enough time around Rebecca to know whether she was threatening for real or not. "Took a month to get an excavation team that could pick him out of the ice, then a gaggle of doctors to oversee his unthaw. Two weeks it took to melt him through enough to wake up."

Rebecca's eyes watered, and she dabbed them away angrily. "You asshole. I don't even know how to feel."

Bucky, on the other hand, was openly crying with the biggest smile on his face. "I'm so glad to see you. I thought- I thought I was alone."

"You're not alone." Rebecca motioned vaguely in Tony's direction. "That young lady went through all this trouble for you."

"You're my family, Becca." He kissed the hand she let him keep. "That means so much to me."

"Ew." She waved him off. "I don't like this soppy version of you. My Bucky would have offered to punch whoever made me unhappy, not cry with me. Get yourself together."

He laughed wetly. 

"I'm going to call Happy and leave you the car." She laid the keys on the table next to them. "Let you catch up without a voyeur. Remember what we talked about, Rebecca. Give the word and I'll make it happen."

"I'll consider it, Stark." Rebecca sniffed, pretending at a hauty air. Bucky's beaming smile followed her out. 

 

 | | | 

 

He returned well into the evening. It was clear he'd been pushed to his emotional limits and the exhaustion was a happy one, like exercising. 

He collapsed next to her on the couch. 

"Did you have a good time?"

He grabbed her face and kissed her solidly. "I'll never be able to thank you enough."

"That's a start." She managed after her brain rebooted. "Keep trying."

* * *

 

It didn't take him long after that to fall in love with her. Even with the media circus that surrounded her, and had now engulfed him, he didn't even try to keep out of her gravity well. She noticed, too, and had amped up her flirting game over the next year until the SI Christmas Party of 2003 when his resolve finally broke. 

That was the first time paparazzi had caught them together. He was thoroughly unashamed of that kiss, had the pictures and articles about it in a folder in their bedroom. He'd had her mewling and clutching at his suit jacket, one hand in her hair, the other pulling her forward even as he pushed her back into the wall. He'd had his tongue down her throat, all heat and passion and she'd melted into it. The memory of it still got him hot and bothered. 

The tabloids had been wild the next day. 

In early 2004, the STAR Program brought back Steve's shield, but not Steve. She gave it to him as a keepsake, but to him, it was a choice. 

Steve had carried this shield into battle and been Captain America. This was a symbol, a chance given to him by some higher power. He'd survived when no one else had, and he owed it to Steve to carry on that legacy. He was a supersoldier, he was everything he needed to be to do it. 

Tony had been more than happy to make him a suit, though she designed it less glamorous than Steve's uniform. Navy coloured, but well-fitting and lined in bulletproof plating with enough give to use his body in combat, a single silver star on his chest with silver wings and brown leather gloves to make handling guns easier. Darker navy and silver strips highlighted the suit. 

"Is the cupping of the ass absolutely necessary?"

"Essential." She said, watching him test it out. "In actual fact, it helps with movement. There's no room for the material to catch on itself and other things. It is better that it's tighter."

"Well. How can I argue." He pulled on the harness for the shield and strapped on his magnetic gun clamps. "Do I get a helmet?"

"I had two options. A full helmet or a mask."

"A full helmet. Rather not break open my skull."

She shrugged. "Your fashion funeral."

He rolled his eyes, dropping off the dias. "Very funny. I'm sure the people who I'm after will just die of second-hand embarrassment."

She smirked. "Especially when they see the masterpiece the helmet is covering up."

"I thought that was copyrighted by Stark Industries?" He raised an eyebrow. 

"Nope. Just me."

"Aww, you're sweet on me."

"More than just sweet on you, honey." She raised an eyebrow at him. 

He flushed, ducking his head bashfully. "Dangerous words, doll."

"True words." She stood, circling him with an appraising eye. "I really do like you, Bucky. No tricks, no theatre. Just you and me."

"I like the sound of that." He stepped closer. "So where does that leave us?"

Her gaze flickered down to his lips, then back up to his eyes. "I want you any way I can get you, Sargent." 

"I'm yours."

* * *

Two announcements split the trouble. 

Half the media's in a frenzy over Bucky taking on the persona of Captain America. The other half are weak-kneed over the couple America's hero and America's arms princess make. Rumours swirl around them, but he kisses her on red carpets and swirls her around dance floors with a smile no one can fake for a camera. 

The glow Tony's got made her exes visibly jealous and her friends soft-hearted. 

"Love suits you." Pepper said, winking. 

"About time." Rhodey huffed. 

Bucky nuzzled into her and held her close, his metal arm whirring softly. "I love you, Tony."

"I love you more, Buck." She grabbed his hand, squeezing. "I love you so much."

In late 2006, they get publicly engaged. In early 2007, they get married in a wedding to rival a royal affair. They take six months to tour the world, Obadiah and Pepper running the company in the meantime. They come back tanned and sickly-sweet in love, gross and decadent. They manage almost another six months of wedded bliss. 

Then Tony went to Afghanistan. 

 


	3. Breathing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y'all ready to suffer?

When Rhodey called him and told him she was missing, unaccounted for in the bodies of the caravan, he was halfway into her workshop, pulling on his suit and grabbing the shield with the hand she'd made him. 

"I'll be there in six hours." He informed Rhodey. 

"Good. I'll prep the landing pad. Be prepared to move out when you touch down."

He stepped onto the tarmac restless and antsy, in full form. The shield sparkled in the sun, and Rhodey nodded at him. 

"My Heracles is this way." 

* * *

Three months passed this way. He searched with Rhodes continuously, spitting venom at anyone who even hinted at calling it off. 

"The Ten Rings doesn't take prisoners." One unlucky Colonel said. 

Bucky loomed over him, every ounce of menace and strength in his stance. "Neither do I."

In the end, what led them to her was her own escape, a massive explosion out in the mountains. 

He jumped out of the Heracles as it flew above her, barely registering the impact before he started running toward her, her blood-streaked face and broken smile the best sight he'd ever seen. 

He didn't ask her once what happened, what they'd done to her. He let the army treat her and question her and every night, he held her close and whispered his love, that he would never let her get hurt like that again. 

"I know you love me." She whispered back. "You were looking."

On the plane ride home, he held her against him, ever-aware of her new Reactor and the constant pain it caused her. 

Pepper's makeup had been wiped off, little smears of mascara left behind at the edges of her eyes. 

"Tears for your long lost boss?" Tony poked when they walked up. 

"Tears of joy." Pepper admitted, smiling bashfully. "I hate job hunting."

She sniffed in mock-offense, but Bucky was smiling. He clapped her on the shoulder and ushered Tony into the car, still in his dusty stars and stripes. 

"Take us to the hospital, please." Pepper asked Happy once they were seated. 

"No." Tony interrupted. 

"Tony-"

"I've been in captivity for three months. There are two things I want: an American cheeseburger and second-" Her gaze slid to Bucky. 

Pepper rolled her eyes with a disgusted noise. 

"It's not what you think. Call a press conference."

 

 | | | 

 

Bucky remained at her shoulder the whole time, a bastion of strength and steely stares. He kept Obadiah from his usual heavy-handed casual touches and set an imposing figure looming behind her in sandy navy and glimmering Vibranium peeking over his shoulders. 

"I saw young Americans killed by the weapons I designed to protect them." She said, sitting on her ass in Versace. Images in black and white of fields of soldiers, boots and crosses, flashed through her mind. The low chuckle of Lieutenant Sarah Mara, Sargent Lance Jones' indulgent grin and Corporal Miles Matheson's excitement for a goddamn picture looped once more behind her eyes. She could feel the press of his greens against her suit jacket, the weight of the useless bulletproof vest and the smell of his standard-issue soaps. She could still see the way his helmet kept slipping into his eyes because the straps were too loose. How Mara had looked on with aloof disdain until they were in the Hum-V together. How Jones had a soft spot for Matheson and his innocent puppy-ish enthusiasm. 

The assemblage of reporters sat quietly, waiting for her to continue. Or maybe Bucky's look dared them to push her and face his wrath. 

"I realized I had become comfortable with a system that was comfortable with zero accountability." She swallowed thickly, trying to force the words out past the gurgle of Yinsen's last breath echoing in her mind. She couldn't help it - she stood up, hid behind the podium. "That's why, effective immediately, I'm shutting down the weapons manufacturing division of Stark Industries."

Bucky immediately  stepped up, shuffling her away, his shield blocking out the flashes of cameras and the yelled questions of reporters. He ushered her back to the main building, until Obadiah caught up to them. 

"That was . . .  Something." 

"It had to be done." She said, staunch. 

"I don't know what happened to you over there, but this is something you can't just arbitrarily do, Antonia."

"It is and I am." She replied. "I have to. You don't understand."

"Maybe not, but there are rules in place for a reason." He took a breath. "Maybe we can talk alone?"

"There's nothing that Bucky can't hear." She sighed. "I know this is really out of left field, but you have to trust me. Please."

"I do, I do. Let me work on the board and just focus on recovering."

"Okay." She smiled wanly. "Thanks Obie."

"Are you going to let me see it?"

"Who told you? Rhodey?"

Obadiah undid her tie and she undid the buttons. 

"Okay, Rhodey." She pulled open the shirt, letting the blue Reactor shine out. "I want us to look into this tech. We can change the course of everything with it."

"I'll do what I can." Obadiah buttoned up her shirt, replacing the sling her left arm was in. He made eye contact with Barnes, who was watching raptly, and smiled. "Stay safe and recover."

He left, well aware of Barnes' gaze following him out. There was so much complicated by their marriage and his general existence. If Raza wasn't dead, Obadiah would make him wish he was. 

* * *

Bucky was the best husband she could have ever dreamed of. He woke up with her and held her through recurring nightmares, never pressed her to tell him what they were about but always ready to listen and delivering her public statements with calm and grace. 

"I like the beard." She murmured one night, laying against him. 

He smiled, his metal arm tightening around her. "Do you? I hardly slept while you were gone. Just kept looking. Spent nights on the floor of the radar room."

"It looks good on you."

"Want me to keep it?"

"You wanna?"

"Whatever you want from me, doll, you can have."

It wasn't like she'd never heard promises like that from everyone else, but he was the only one she'd ever believe meant it. Every dream uttered in the depth of the night, whisper of devotion pressed against her skin waist-deep in passion, promise of fidelity murmured in the afterglow was too sincere for her to protect against. He loved her more than her own family, had sacrificed more to ensure just her happiness than almost anyone else she'd ever known. She loved him, enough to hurt, and would be broken without him. 

"You came for me."

"Every second, from the instant Rhodey called me." He swore, tightening his hold. "Never again. You're my world, honey. I'd fall apart without you."

She cried so much since coming home. He held her every time, never far away. 

"I love you, Bucky."

"I love you, Tony." He promised, kissing her tears away. "And I always will, come hell or high water." He paused, sucked in air like he didn't know whether to continue, then jumped in anyway. "I'll kill anyone who tries to come between us. I'll kill them."

She was more comforted by that than she should have been.

 

 | | | 

 

Bucky sat in her workshop the whole time she worked on the Mark II, then the Mark III. He caught her when she smacked into the wall. He was at her side when she fell through the ceiling and he was there when she was riddled through with bullet holes. 

Never once did he tell her she was too weak, too fragile. The furrow of his brow wasn't because he didn't want her her save the world - it was because he didn't want to lose her to it so soon. 

"Kick their ass, doll." He told her, helping her down from the dismantling platform. "But come home to me."

He did what she needed him to do, when she asked him to do it. 

"Come home." He kissed her just before the faceplate dropped. "Make sure that you'll always come home."

She thought, for a while, that everything was fine. Fine, fine, fine. 

Stock prices dropped, then she got locked out of the company, but she could handle that. Obadiah was on her side. 

She thought, anyway. 

* * *

She picked up the phone, dropping onto the couch. She'd come up for coffee when the phone started to ring. Bucky was going to follow her soon, no doubt. He was just finishing his last round of sit-ups, then he'd wander up after her for a joint shower. 

She knew what the sound was the second it hit her ears, when she felt the paralysis hit her and her body slumped. Obadiah rounded the couch, a serpentine smile stretched across his face. He shut off her little machine, the specialized earbuds shining as he pulled them out. 

"You remember this one, right?" He sneered. "It's a shame it didn't get approved. There's so many applications for short-term paralysis. Ah, Antonia. When I, uh, order that hit on you, I worried that I was killing the golden goose."

Her blood ran cold. She watched him pull out a brief case, a device with claws in it made for what could only be one possible purpose. He was speaking lowly - maybe he anticipated Bucky being home, even though her soldier was supposed to be running business errands for her that Pepper had taken off his hands last-minute. That must be why he chose now. It was too much to process that her oldest caretaker, Peggy and Jarvis aside, had decided he wanted her dead. She'd deal with that later. 

"But, you see, it was just fate you survived that." He pulled the Reactor from her chest. "You had one last golden egg to give. Do you really think that just because you have an idea that it belongs to you? Your father, he helped give us the atomic bomb. Now what kind of a world would it be today if he was as selfish as you?"

He sat down next to her, admiring the glow of the Reactor as one might a particularly exotic diamond. 

"Oh, Antonia. This is your ninth symphony. What a masterpiece." He held it to her face. "This is your legacy. A new generation of weapons, with this at its heart. Weapons that will help steer the world, put it back on its proper course. Put the balance of power back in our hands. The right hands. I wish you got to see my prototype. It's not as . . . conservative as yours. Too bad you had to involve Pepper in this. I would have preferred that she lived."

He packed the machine and the Reactor into a brief case and walked out, easy as you please. She felt as if the shrapnel in her chest was clawing out her throat. She was frozen and desperately didn't know what to do about it. The sweat and the pain in her chest were already amplifying with each heartbeat. 

"Tony? Doll?" Bucky rounded the top of the stairs, eyes setting on her and face draining of colour. "Holy shit." 

He rushed over to her, checked her vitals and immediately picked her up.

"Where's the Reactor?" He asked, but she was completely limp and falling rapidly into shock. "Fuck. Hold on, honey. Pepper dropped something off last week. We'll fix you up, I promise. When this wears off (please God, let it wear off), you're going to tell me who did this and we're going to kill them. I'll stick this beautiful metal fist right through their chest, so help me God."

He brought her over to the glass-encased prototype she'd built in the cave. It still shone, still whirring away. And it was going to save her life again, one last whisper of faith from Yinsen. Her ice-capped husband was going to be the one to save her, using a pair of long tweezers that Dum-E brought over to reattach the power cord to the base plate of the electromagnet. She gasped when it reconnected, feeling the shrapnel freeze, then retreat. 

He laid her on the couch. "I'll be back. I'm going to grab the shield and we'll go. I'll kill whatever fuck did this to you."

* * *

It took her ten minutes to regain movement, enough to get inside the suit. Bucky followed her trail on one of her suped-up motorcyles, the black one that streaked blue flame when you pushed the engine. It was his favourite and the fastest of the lot. He was in full gear when they arrived at the manufacturing plant to already find SHIELD and Pepper inside, running from Obadiah's menace of a machine. 

"Bucky!"

"On it!"

She slammed into Obadiah while Bucky grabbed Pepper, and the battle was on.

Over the crest of the parking lot, into the highway, there was clanging, smashing and abruptly, an explosion. Then they were rocketting off into the sky, Tony a comet streaking up the sky and Obadiah a rocket, following sluggishly. 

"What the hell are they doing?" Pepper panicked. 

"Trust Tony." Bucky replied sharply, bringing her over to her car. "Get in and get out of here. Anywhere else, it doesn't matter. Just go and keep your phone on."

"Okay." She was shaking, hard, but his firm instruction was grounding her. "Okay."

"Call Rhodes on your way and tell him what's happening. But you get away from here." He pulled off his shield and looked every inch a man who would be Captain America. "Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes. I'll go, right away."

"Don't return until I call you."

"Okay." She started the car and did exactly as he said. He watched her go, then looked back in time to see Obadiah's suit falling, barely managing to catch itself as it broke the ice. He went back inside the plant, looking for anything in the schematics that would indicate a weakness he could exploit when the fight eventually came back to the ground. After all, the Mark I Reactor wasn't meant for something like this, even as energy-efficient as her suit was now. 

"Buck?" She managed over the phone.

"Tony!" He breathed. "Good. Where are you?"

"On the roof." She wheezed. "Not doing too good. Almost out of power. I gotta get out of this thing."

He breathed out gratefully, but then she gasped. "Weapons status! Flares!"

"Tony? Tony, baby, talk to me!" He was already mounting the stairs, taking them three at a time to the roof. Obadiah wasn't done yet.

"Can't." She whispered. 

He threw open the door to the roof, finding it smokey and poorly visible. The massive suit appeared to his left and he just had enough time to raise the shield to block it, almost getting thrown off the roof for his trouble. 

"Brought your little boyfriend, huh?" Obadiah sneered. Bucky ducked behind a conditioner, finding Tony crouched and helmet-less. She held up the wires in her hand, making a targeting reticule with her fingers, then shaking her head. So she'd torn out his targetting system. "It's funny. You tried to rid the world of weapons, and you make the best one ever!"

"I'll buy you time." He signed to her. She nodded, turning to watch the Monger move. 

He jumped the conditioner, propelling himself at Stane and knocking him off-balance, using the shield to bash in the knee joints and cripple the hydrolics. He wound up pushing the megalomaniac back toward the skylight and onto the glass, the steel yielding more and more to the vibranium beating it was taking. Bucky, too, was too quick and agile to be grabbed when Stane's own view was obstructed by the bulk of his armour. 

"Bucky!" She yelled from below, standing next to the massive Reactor that powered the plant. "Clear the roof!"

He bashed in one more leg hydrolic, rolled between Stane's legs and took off, launching himself off the roof on instinct alone. Shortly after, there was a rippling wave of electric power he felt sizzling along his metal arm and a massive explosion. 

He got up and ran around the front of the building, finding Tony on her knees, panting hard, the star in her chest flickering weakly. He collapsed next to her, wrapping her in his arms and just resting together until the sirens pulled into the parking lot with Pepper and Rhodey at their heels. 

* * *

Every magazine and paper wanted to interview her. She did a piece with the Wall Street Journal on corrupt business ethics, pointing out how easy it is to do and hide, admitting that she'd been too-trusting and advising others like her to keep an eye on the people they employed, even when they'd known them forever. Forbes had a spread on her in her armour. Vanity Fair did a resplendant piece on her as a hero not only in the United States, but her 'off the books' work in Gulmira. The Washington Post reported on her single-handed vengeance on the Ten Rings. Time Magazine named them Persons of the Year, with an elaborate spread of them together, America's Power Couple. The cover had her front and centre, her Reactor glowing through her thin black shirt, the left arm and leg of her armour on, hand extended. He was behind her, in full uniform, his arm with the shield resting at her waist and the metal arm on display and wrapping around her chest, under her breasts. His chin was resting on her shoulder, an accessory to her success. 

Honestly, if he was destined to be a sidekick, it was a goddamn privilege to be hers. 

The struggling, tears and therapy were details left unpublished. 

"You're strong." Tony's godmother told her over the phone. "Stronger than Maria, Howard, me, even. And you've got Barnes. you'll come through this hard, but scrubbed clean. Trail by fire, but you're made of something more than steel, my girl. You don't melt in the heat."

It took months, almost a year, before she was able to sleep consecutive days without waking up in a cold sweat, tears, or panic. And every step of the way, Bucky got up with her, walked her through the pain and let her cry on him.

"What would I do without you?" She murmured into his shoulder. 

"You'd make do." He smiled. "You can live without me. It's a gift that you don't want to."

"I actually had a good dream last night."

"Oh?"

"How do you feel about . . . starting our own family?" She winced. "I know the Reactor's going to make this difficult, but I wanna try. We don't have to if you don't want to-"

"Doll, I've wanted to have a family with you from the moment you agreed to date me." He breathed. "I would love to. God, do I want to be the father of your children."

She broke into a radiant smile, like the first break of sun after a thunderstorm. "Really?"

"Yes. God, yes."

"Well, in that case, let's get started?"

He laughed and rolled them over.

* * *

She'd almost gotten excited, seven weeks without a period. Then it came, and the hope flushed out of her again. She didn't know what was causing her irregular periods when she'd been to-the-day precise for her entire life. 

The palladium core was charred again when she removed it from the Reactor. The discharge and fatigue was getting worse. She replaced it and ppicked up the small machine JARVIS had manufactured for her. She pricked her finger, took a moment, then looked down at the incriminating little red letters. 

**BLOOD TOXICITY: 28%**

 

 

 

 


	4. Bad News, Good News

Bucky's been watching Tony slowly deteriorate before his eyes for the last eight months. Whenever he asked her how she is, she deflected, and he hadn't found enough concrete evidence of something wrong to confront her seriously about it. Plus, there were times when she really did stand out as herself, like humiliating the Armed Services Committee when they called her in for a hearing in the Senate and slapping Hammer back down into his place at the same time. She was her usual charismatic self whenever there were cameras, like the announcement of the commencement of the Stark Expo. 

But when she was at home, when she thought he couldn't see her or that she was alone, she looked well and truly exhausted. Like every movement took more from her than she had to give, and she actually slept when he asked her to. She didn't bring up having babies anymore, like she'd been when they'd first started. He hoped it was just how long it was taking for them to conceive that was bothering her, but he had a sneaking suspicion that it wasn't. 

"I signed the company over to Pepper." She said. He'd been doing pull-ups as she lounged in the hotrod, watching him. 

"What? Why?"

"She practically runs it already. No sense in me hanging around."

He dropped down, sweating and glistening. "I'll support you, doll. But do this for you, not out of a depressive episode."

She looked down at her hands. "What makes you think I'm depressed?"

"You've been low for a long time and you're only getting lower." He leaned against the door. "Whatever it is, baby girl, you can tell me."

She nodded, taking his hand. "You're so good to to me."

"Not as good as you are to me." He smiled, but she barely managed to return it. Usually she was all over his grin with a kiss and a slap on the ass. She dropped her gaze back down to her hands, fiddling with the little steel box she carried with her everywhere now. 

He let it go, but he was going to keep an eye on this. He would be damned if his wife got hurt in her own fucking house. 

* * *

She stared down at it in the bathroom, the tears she was repressing blurring the number she already knew was there. 

**BLOOD TOXICITY: 39%**

* * *

She plastered on her best press face at the Monaco Grand Prix, at least until Hammer tried accosting her. She was too tired, in too much pain, to deal with him. But Bucky was more than aware of her distaste for him, answering sharply and suavely whenever he tried to touch her or Christine tried to ask a probing question. 

She'd not been intimate with Bucky since the veining had started, over a month now. He'd not mentioned it, not so much as asked her about it. As much as she appreciated not having to make up an excuse (when she had never, ever even considered not having sex with Bucky before) she also knew that this was more due to Bucky's concern for her evidently failing health. He didn't know why, but he could tell and she wasn't going to be able to hide it from him forever. 

She dodged into the bathroom, leaving Bucky with Pepper's flirtatious assistant Natalie, and tested herself again. 

**BLOOD TOXICITY: 53%**

She took a breath, reigned herself back in, then met her own gaze. "Got any bad ideas?"

And in her defense, when she pulled on the flame-retardant suit and got inside the car, she'd not anticipated her life to be in jeopardy from anythign other than Pepper's oncoming wrath. How was she supposed to anticipate someone like Vanko, with his crazy delusions of grandeur and pent-up anger?

Pepper's answer was that she wasn't supposed to have been on the track in the first place. 

Bucky's answer had been to grab the shield and briefcase he carried in public and jump out the window, landing in the stands and meeting the threat head-on, the flying disc enough to make Vanko's homemade Reactor flicker and spurt long enough for her to reach him and crush it. Bucky's shoulder was smouldering from where he'd caught one of the whips, but he was, as ever, more concerned for her than himself. 

It was exhausting to hide her imminent death from someone who loved her so intensely, so much it just overflowed in his every action. She's sure if she told him, he would find a way to talk to God himself and trade his life for hers. 

She didn't want that for him, but there was no way. She was dying, she knew that. But she'd already been through every combination a dozen times trying to find a viable replacement. There just wasn't one. There was nothing that wouldn't kill her too, and the palladium was at least an effective core. 

She didn't talk to Bucky until after she'd had her cryptic conversation with Vanko in a Monacan prison. When he tried to hold her close, press them together naked in their hotel room, she panicked.

"I need to shower." She said, pulling away and ducking into the bathroom, trying her best to stop her heart from bursting out of her chest in protest. She wanted to, desperately so, but the veining was getting significantly worse, not something she could pass off as shadows in her cleavage (which he would also never believe - he'd mapped her body for seven years and knew it intimately). When she returned, she was in a t-shirt and claimed she was tired. Bucky didn't fight her on it, but he held her extra close that night, one hand over her heart. Her overtired mind and exhausted body made it so hard not to start crying and just give in, let him know about it, that she was on a time limit. 

She continued to avoid him right up until the night of her birthday, most of which she barely remembered. She recalled Natalie telling her to "do what I wanted to, with who I wanted to". She remembered fighting Rhodey in the Mark II. She remembered the pain and the heartbreak and how she'd run from Bucky standing off to the side, disappointment and hurt written plainly on his face. 

She'd run, and she hated herself for it. 

"Ma'am." Came a authoritative voice from down below. "I'm going to have to ask you to exit the donut."

Then Fury'd preached at her, Natalie Rushman was actually Natasha Romanov, and they'd towed her ass back home. 

"Howard Stark said you were the key to the future." Fury said as they looked over the ocean, agents milling about her house. 

"Yeah, I don't get that." She said, narrowing her eyes. "He never told me he loved me, never even told me he  _liked_ me. His happiest day was when he sent me off to boarding school. So, you knew him better than I did."

"I did. This was his."

Some agents dropped a case at her feet. 

"The answer might be in there somewhere, for what he was working on." Fury made meaningful eye contact with her. "And if I were you, I would tell that man behind you what's actually going on."

She turned as the agents filed out to find Bucky standing behind her, visibly tired and worn out. His shoulders were set stiff and he was frowning. The tidal wave of emotion she'd been ignoring crashed into her again and she immediately felt like the world's biggest and most immense  _asshole_. 

Bucky watched them all leave and she didn't dare to break the tension between them before that. 

"I can-"

"What's actually going on?" He parrotted, completely still. "Why does the Director of SHIELD know something about you that I don't?"

She swallowed. She'd never been good at confronting the people she scared about, and disappointing Bucky so  _thoroughly_ was like disappointing Edwin and Ana. "Just listen?"

"I've been waiting for you to tell me for a year now." He said, but otherwise still didn't move. Didn't come over to hug her like he normally would, or cross his arms like he did when he was facing down an enemy. 

"I-" She swallowed again, fighting back tears and losing the battle. "I'm dying. Buck,  _I'm dying_."

His cold mask cracked and the despair was palpable. She collapsed back onto the chair and began to cry. "What?"

"The palladium is poisoning me." She managed between crippling sobs. "I tried everything. I never stopped looking, kept retrying with more and more drastic combinations, attempting old ones again desperately. I couldn't find anything that worked. I still can't. The machine keeping me alive is killing me."

He dropped to his knees in front of her, unconcerned with the broken glass digging into his knees, and pulled her into his lap. He held her fiercely, his grip almost crushing as she sobbed a year's worth of repressed anguish and hopelessness into his shoulder. 

"We need to look through Howard's work." He mumbled into her shoulder when she'd calmed down enough to feel the fatigue hit her full force. "He might have the answer."

"Are you mad at me?"

He nuzzled into her neck. "When you discover the cure for this, when you're recovering from the poisoning and back together, we're going to have a long talk about this. I'm not mad at you. I'm not going anywhere. We need to get through this, to save you, then we'll hammer out why you don't trust me."

"It's not that I don't-"

"Shh." He nuzzled into her again, giving a gentle squeeze. "First, we're going to shower. Then we're going to sleep. Then, we're going to have hard and slow sex. Then we're going to sleep again. We'll get up, eat, and get started on fixing you."

She melted against him, just letting him take care of her. "Okay."

It took them two and a half weeks, but they found what Howard left behind. Bucky kissed her senseless, took her against the wall whispering about how much he loved her, how brilliant she was, that he'd never lost faith in her. 

When she put in the new Reactor, she had Bucky's hickeys on her neck and coconut in her tongue. She took off with him hot on her heels. In the span of an evening, Vanko was dead and Hammer in prison. 

"He's lucky the cops got him before I did." He said after he pulled back from their kiss. He was as tall as her in the suit and that was a little thrilling. "I would have shown him some of the more advanced techniques marching myself across Nazi Europe taught me."

* * *

There were many hospital visits in the following months with doctors more than a little surprised she was still able to walk. Bucky gave her several transfusions to help flush out of the toxins. She recovered quickly, not bothering to wonder whether it was just the clean blood in her body or Bucky's enhanced blood inside her. 

On a whim long after the visits had ended and she was deemed recovered, she checked again. 

**BLOOD TOXICITY: 0%**

She smiled down at it and went to throw it into the bottom drawer of the vanity, only to find her long-abandoned pregnancy tests. 

"What the hell." She shrugged, picking one up. "Why not?"

* * *

In the late fall months of 2010, James Rhodes Stark-Barnes was welcomed into the world. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How's that for an update, huh?


	5. Of Galas And Old Friends

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Partially inspired by the fact I can't stop thinking about Zendaya at the Met Gala.

"So, Pepper agreed to take Jamie for the night."

He nodded, continuing to pat the baby's back. "Alright. Did you settle on a theme?"

She smirked. "That really difficult one we talked about. The one you'll need hair for."

"Hmm. Cancel my appointment with the barber for me, then." He kissed Jamie's cheek. 

"Wait, you're gonna grow it out?"

"Isn't the point to be dramatic?"

"True." She caressed his cheek. "Beard too, then."

He chuckled. "Alright. I just hope you won't mind the beard burn between your thighs."

"A good reminder." She winked. 

He chuckled. "Jamie might not."

"Condition it." She shrugged. "Save the rough stuff for me, would you, soldier?"

"Yes ma'am."

* * *

The outfits so far had been rather impressive. A mythical theme would invoke that, obviously, but Tony's idea took them months to complete. When they were ushered through, the sudden silence then abrupt rush of yelling was overwhelming. The camera flashes were blinding, but he felt her hand squeeze his in glee. 

Tony hadn't attended any gala she wasn't required to by Pepper since her mother died, and that was the last time she'd even been to the Met. He didn't think she'd be so excited if she hadn't come up with a perfect couples costume. 

She stepped out first. Her dress was made of blinding white linen, the cut simple and flattering. All of the embroidery was in gold, as was the faceplate of the helmet she had on. What was more stunning was the tangled web of crystalline flowers and vines that were climbing the skirt. The metal flowers - black steel asphodels - were circling her wrists and climbing her arms. The dress itself was covered in tiny light-refracting artificial gems, illuminated by the small lights she had glued to her legs. She glittered when she moved, her loose curls woven through with gold thread. 

He followed after her, his metal hand underneath hers. It was tinted darker for the event, matte black cuffs sitting on his forearm and bicep. He was draped in opaque black fabric, starting wrapped around his left shoulder and covering his scarring, then crossing his chest to make a sleeve for his right arm. The low-slung, floor-length black skirt he was in left his abdomen completely exposed. His beard had grown in nicely, trimmed to nicely suit the square shape of his face. His hair had grown out well during the six months they'd been preparing, and now fell over his shoulders, thick and dark. Atop his head sat a dead laurel wreath, woven with shining white lilies. Asphodel designs were in glossy soft black along his cape, flowing a good two or three feet behind him. Her added touch to his outfit - which made her the most giddy - was the way he gave off a black smoke, curling around his metal arm continuously. His hair was parted to the right, but there was still enough of it to dangle over his shoulder. It also gave him a better view of her. 

"Persephone and Hades!" She'd exclaimed when they were planning. "Isn't it great?"

They did look amazing. He laid on the brooding facade until she wanted his attention, then allowed his love for her to shine through. God, she looked so radiant. He just wanted to kiss her. 

He slipped his hand out of hers, grabbing her fingers then spinning her around in a dazzling display of light and shimmering fabric. He pulled her back into him, looming over her, and kissed her solidly. Coos and cheers echoed simultaneously, the flashes visible even through his closed eyes. She melted into him, giggling when he finally let her go. He brushed his nose with hers, giggling back. 

Tonight was going to be fun. 

* * *

The tabloids featured them heavily the next day, morning shows claiming they were the most daring and splendid couple costume there. 

"After such a long hiatus from the Gala, Tony really brought it." One host exclaimed. "We should have known."

"Tony, yes." Her co-host replied. "But did you see Bucky?" They popped up a picture, his stomach on prominent display. "Did you see him? The long hair and beautiful body? Mmmm, delicious."

"Oh, absolutely. Tony is every man's dream woman and Bucky's every woman's dream man."

He rolled his eyes with a smile and shut off the TV. Jamie gurgled in his arms, tossing his hair up in the air. Their baby loved the hair - especially after he learned not pulling at it would get him more time with it -  and often pawed at his beard too. 

"Hey, Tony?"

"Mmm?" She came up from under the car. "What?"

"Should I keep the hair?"

She paused to consider it. "I mean, can't complain about having something to hold onto. Maybe short enough to wear a helmet with?"

He hummed thoughtfully, smiling down at Jamie as the boy put some of the long locks into his mouth, blue eyes staring gormlessly up at his father. 

* * *

JARVIS tracked international incidents as well as domestic ones and it wasn't uncommon for him to find Tony and the suit gone. Even as Captain America now, it was more of a "I go where she tells me" situation. Since Jamie, he'd noticed he'd been left behind more often. 

And that was fine. He loved his boy and had no issues playing with him and caring for him. It just made it unnerving when SHIELD called on him and told him to meet at the helicarrier docking bay. 

Rebecca's granddaughter, Amanda, had been hired from her daycare to take care of Jamie when they were both indisposed - it wasn't Pepper's job to care for their baby - and lived not far from them in Malibu. 

He boarded the carrier with nods to those who saluted him. He didn't work very often with SHIELD but enough to know some faces and a few names. 

"Sargent Barnes." Agent Coulson greeted. "Director Fury and Miss Stark are waiting for you in the command centre."

"Thank you." He let the man lead him - the helicarrier was vast, and he was mostly acquainted with the armoury and deployment bays. 

When he walked in, Tony was in a pressed suit, looking unruffled and intrigued. Spotting Doctor Banner, he understood why. 

"What did I miss?"

She turned to him with a smile. She enjoyed seeing him in the uniform. "Nothing much."

"Bucky?!"

He glanced over at the table and caught Steve's wide-eyed stare. "Steve?!"

The blonde man got up and rushed around the table, pulling him into a crushing hug. 

"I can't believe- How are you alive?"

"I could say the same thing to you, pal." He pulled back, grinning. "Tony found me in the ice, frozen solid."

"SHIELD found me."

"I found the  _Valkyrie_ and turned the site over to SHIELD." Tony interjected. "Maybe six months ago, if that."

He beamed at Steve, who looked at him like a blessing. 

"I just can't believe you're here too."

"The future's great." He smiled wide enough to close his eyes. "Everything about it."

"How long have you been awake?"

"Ten years."

"That's crazy."

"You're telling me. I'm married, got a baby - it's nuts."

"Wow."

"Gentlemen." Fury interrupted. "Catch up later. We've got a more pressing matter."

"Right. Of course." Bucky straightened, setting his shoulders. Despite the fact he'd kept the long hair - shorter than the Hades costume, only just brushing his shoulders now - he didn't cut any less of an imposing figure. 

Fury turned to Banner and Tony. "You can track it?"

"Of course we can." Tony replied smartly. "There's nothing we can't do."

Banner glanced at her shyly. 

"Agent Romanov, lead them to the labs."

* * *

"So, how well do you know Stark?"

"Tony?" Bucky got a dreamy look in his eye. "I'd reckon pretty well."

"She's Howard's daughter?"

"Yeah."

"She seems a little obnoxious."

"It's her public persona." He shrugged. "That's also why she was in a pantsuit. Guarantee in the lab, she's in jeans."

"I don't like her." Steve frowned. "She rubs me the wrong way."

"Give her an actual chance, Steve." Bucky's voice got harder. "She's one of the best people I've ever met. Pretty selfless too."

"She certainly doesn't show it."

"You seem pretty adamant to dislike her."

"I told you, she rubs me wrong. I don't like her arrogance, non-chalance or composure."

"Well, that's a damn shame." Bucky stopped him, staring him down. "Because she's my wife."

Steve paled. "Oh, I didn't-"

"Tony was the one that pulled me out of the ice. She unthawed me and took care of me for months without asking for a damn thing. She had an apartment for me in Brooklyn just in case I wanted to move away, was ready to give me anything I asked for. She's been through so much, and she just keeps giving. But if you're so set on squaring off with her, it isn't going to end well for you." He set his jaw. "She's my wife, and the mother of my child."

Steve cowed down. "I'm sorry, Buck."

"Apology accepted." He deflated with a sigh. "I just don't want my best friend hating my wife. 'Specially after just meeting her."

"You're right." Steve sighed too. "You wouldn't do that to me."

"C'mon. Let's go see what they're up to." Bucky wrapped his arm around Steve's shoulder. 

The walk to the lab was mostly silent. When they walked in, Tony perked up immediately, hopping off the desk to come up to him, accepting a sweet kiss. 

"I saw you guys at the Met." Banner spoke up. "You look better like this, though the long hair was an interesting look."

"Took me a good six months to grow it that long." He smiled at the nervous scientist. "Glad you liked it."

"As if I would ever agree to marry someone not as beautiful as me." Tony flashed a charming smile. "Naturally, he was the only option."

Banner snorted, adjusting quickly to her humour. "Yup."

She fluttered back over to the machines, keying in more code and talking jargon at Banner. 

"See?" Bucky nudged Steve. "She's really wonderful."

 

 


End file.
